Jimmyisms

Jimmy attended Liberty Public Schools from Kindergarten thru 12th Grade graduating in 1956. If you were in Liberty schools during this time and have memories of him that you wish to share, you can email them to be posted here. They will be copied and pasted latest ones at the top. It is necessary that you include your name and class for your memory to be posted, your email address will not be posted.

I have a "Jimmyism"

8/17/10
Many years ago when I was a Freshman in high school, I often think about a joke that Jimmy pulled off when my Dad, Jimmy, (Owen, I think) and I were in Emporia, Kansas.

We had cattle grazing on prairie land in the flint hills near Emporia. We made the trip to check on the cattle, looking to see if they were still there and if we could find any of the bovine that needed medical attention or just to check on the general health of the herd.

I don't remember what vehicle we were in, but there was a front seat and a back seat. Dad was driving and Jimmy was on the passenger side, front seat. There was grass and brush in many places that almost came up to the bottom of our vehicle. Dad had a fairly fast pace trying to find as many of the cattle as possible. We were bouncing around and Jimmy kept on making wise cracks about we were going to break an axle, blow a tire and we'd all end up having to walk back to Belton. We were all laughing and the more he kept it up, it seemed like the faster dad would drive. In this area you could not see the ground due to all the high vegetation so we were hitting rocks, ditches and other smaller objects that you could feel as we drove over them.

All of a sudden we hit what seemed to be a very large ditch, or gully and the front of the vehicle slopped down where the front was down much lower than the back of the vehicle.
Dad had slammed on the brakes and we came to a screeching halt. We all looked at each other and Dad had a real serious look on his face. He asked out loud what we might have hit or what we might be falling into? We sat there for a minute, and then Dad asked Jimmy if he would get out and see if we were in any danger.

At that moment Jimmy threw open his front door and got our very fast. All at once as he was getting out, he disappeared! Then all of a sudden he reappeared where all you could see was his head at the bottom of the door and one hand. He looked up at Dad and said you had better
back this thing up before we all fall in. He played it so well he acted like he was hanging from below the door and his feet could not touch the ground. He was so smooth, I took him for real and at first, Dad did as well!

I have never laughed so hard in a very long time (after I was sure he was just playing a joke)
We all did! It turned out that Jimmy stood up and we just entering a very wide three to four foot deep dry gully and we did not have a problem going across it.

As I think of Jimmy, I remember it was always fun to be around him.

Wendell Keen
Katy, Tx

2/26/10
I was a classmate of Jimmy’s at Liberty High School and we shared art class first hour our Senior year. You may recall that inI 1956 “Rebel without a Cause” was a big movie and “He wore a Black Leather Jacket with an Eagle on the Back” was one of the hit tunes. Well I had a black leather jacket and Jimmy painted an Eagle on the back of it in art class one morning. However it looked more like a buzzard as I recall.

We would meet at Beggs Pharmacy on Friday nights before going to Kansas and we would always have to stop by the Catholic Church so Jimmy could go to confession. He would return to the car and say “give a beer I'm good for another week”. I have so many fond memories of Jimmy and yes there are many that I can not write about here. I shall miss him as he was a very good friend!

Tony Murfin LHS Class of 56′

2/26/10
I was invited by Jimmy to visit him during "rush week" when he was attending Mizzou and living in the Sigma Nu house. When I arrived Jimmy informed his frat brothers that I was a Sigma Nu at William Jewell and was transferring to Mizzou. I lived with Jimmy at the Sigma Nu house for about three weeks until a couple of Sigma Nu's from William Jewell came to Columbia for a football game. Several of the Sigma Nu members informed them that I was there and needless to say I had to make a hasty departure. I never did learn how Jimmy got out of that mess but I am confident that he had them all believing what ever story he came up with.

2/4/10
"Traveling with Jim to Kansas City, several years ago, we followed our business meeting with a trip to the rodeo at the Kemper Arena. Following the rodeo 5 of us, led by Jim, retreated to a near-by watering hole in the stockyards. It was a rather rough area then but we were big boys and thought this was some local color. Soon after arriving and settling along the bar, Jim left for the restroom. While he was there, a large, and I mean LARGE man came through he door and settled into Jim's stool at the bar. He was one of the biggest human beings I had ever seen. Jim came out of the bathroom, talking and gesturing to others and did not see the guy on his stool. He rammed right into the guy. Jim's nose came about to the middle of the guy's chest. The guy got all upset and came off the stool. Jim looked up and into the guy's eyes, took hold of one of the guys red suspenders and said," hey big guy, how about me paying you to finish all the fights I can start". The guy looked very mean at Jim, then began to smile and then ordered a round for all of us! He and Jim became great friends that night. Of our original group, several had headed for the door when Jim rammed into the guy. Really more to it, but I will leave those parts to wonderful memories."

1/28/10
Another story without a lot of details finds the ranch hands (Jimmy, Ferd, Gib and Owen and probably a few others) on a bad weather day riding their horses near a flooded creek. The water was moving fast and somehow Jimmy and his horse were in it. Jimmy was separated from his horse and floundering in this creek. Jimmy didn't like to swim and was not a good swimmer. He yelled to the guys to help him! They threw him a rope….it wasn't attached to anything! We do know he survived that day.

1/28/10
If I remember correctly, this event occurred while we (the cousins) were still in HS or college. Jimmy, Ferd, Gib and Owen worked on the ranch during the summer months when cattle and horses were shipped in for our sales. Some cattle had to be dehorned, vaccinated, branded, etc., and horses rounded up to break (lead & ride). On one particular day, they boys were way out in Woods pasture gathering a bunch of mares that my dad and uncle had purchased. Jimmy rode down a steep slope toward a creek and his horse had a wreck. It was apparent that Jimmy broke his leg. The boys continued their work and when finished, rode back to the barn. My dad asked, "Where is Jimmy?" He was told that Jimmy was propped up under a tree out in the pasture and they thought he leg was broken! Gib drove a VW in those days and that's what he and Owen used to retrieve Jimmy from the pasture and on to the hospital. The story doesn't end there. They stopped on their way to the hospital at the Topper to buy beer!

1/26/10
This is not really a Jimmyism but this memory came back to me when I read Di's words about a conversation she had with Jimmy regarding people still confusing him with George Strait. Back in our high school days, while most of us were dancing to Bill Hailey and Little Richard, Jimmy was already into C&W, Ernest Tubbs and Hank Williams, Sr. We rode our horses practically daily unless it was too cold or raining. We would be riding along and he would suddenly belt out "I been honky tonkin' and my head's all sore so I come home a-feeling for the knob on the door!" He would finish the song but I have never forgotten how many times he would sing it and that's the line I remember. I have thought of that scenario a jillion times through the years.

1/22/10
Once when I was with Jimmy, I tried to get his attention but then realized he was talking with another person. He turned and said to me, "Wait, just a minute, until I finish telling this lie."

1/22/10
I'll always remember him as the one who criticized me during our
high school days for getting brake work done on my car. He asked if the
horn worked. I said yes. He said "you need one or the other, but not both".

1/21/10
Our class lost a good man and a great wit on January 15. There are so many funny memories and quotes we all remember, most of them suitable for print. In my yearbook, Jimmy wrote, "....you grab a nickel so tight the Indian'll mount the buffalo". Jimmy and Randy would often ask me to go to "Art and Wally's for a beer" (Art and Wally's, of course, being the A & W Rootbeer drive in). Once, when talking about a young lady of questionable morals, he said, "She can do more tricks on a mattress than a monkey on a mile of grapevine." A couple of years ago, the last time we spoke, he assured me that people were still confusing him with George Strait. A long time ago he once referred to someone's death as, "He cashed in his blue ones." Jimmy "cashed in his blue ones" way too soon. He'll certainly be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Jimmy Keen